Ok, I have an xbox 360 wired controller that used to work with os x 10.4.11
Having updated 360controller etc to try for a solution I still am not getting any recognition of the controller. Any Ideas?

ControllerMate?

Not finding it either. have hid driver controller mate and 360controller

Also when the controller is plugged in the light comes on for 1-3 seconds and then stays off. I remember it used to stay on or so I think.

Have you tested whether the controller is, in fact, still functional, by connecting to a working xbox?

That I have. I checked system profiler and could see the controller there. heres the what that showed.
Controller:

Version: 1.14
Bus Power (mA): 500
Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: ©Microsoft Corporation
Product ID: 0x028e
Serial Number: 032E2F4
Vendor ID: 0x045e

But alas still no funtionality on anything.

Might seem a bit odd but is it plugged into a usb port ? If so the light going off might indicate that the port is overloaded and cutting the power ?

hmm, any reason why the controller would now a year later overload the usb port

Not to be the devil's advocate, but it's possible that electronics fail after some time. Maybe you could try using a different controller to see if it works at all?

controller works fine and shows with proper stats in the info bar its just not being recognized anywhere else